The hypothesis is that it is possible to make large capacity Frozen Specimen Shipper Units (FSSUs) that comply with DOT/IATA regulations. NIAID/NIH worked with the US Army Material Command, Logistics Support Activity (LSA), to make small prototype dry ice cooled shippers which are now commercially available. A large capacity container (21 freezer boxes containing 1701 vials) is still desperately needed. Spending the time, effort and money to develop a large capacity container using conventional techniques is risky. The result may be a large, heavy container that is prohibitively expensive, difficult to handle, and which does not meet the desired hold time. The purpose of the proposed program is to gather and analyze the data necessary to prove the feasibility of an innovative, low- cost, liquid nitrogen vapor-phase cooled FSSU. The key innovations are: (1) using no-spill liquid nitrogen instead of dry ice; (2) using a light weight polymer material (plastic). The weight saved over utilizing metals will be used for extra liquid nitrogen refrigerant; (3) using novel aerospace-type cryogenic insulation materials to extend lifetime; and (4) using a polymeric outer pack to reduce weight, cost and absorb shock. The proposed program is a marriage of biomedicine, cryogenics and the packaging industry. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION A large capacity frozen specimen shipper does not exist at this time which meets IATA/DOT regulations. There is a backlog of literally hundreds of thousands of samples, which could be shipped in the proposed container. The total frozen specimen shipment market is estimated at 2.3 million shipments per year, which this device, when commercialized, would serve.